Mulberry Mistletoe

2012-01-14 Lower Austria, district Gnserndorf - WWF nature reserve March-AuenGerman name: RiemenmistelYou can find their fruit on the ground now, occasionally with bigger twigs still attached to them, blown away from winter storms. They grow high up in the crowns of oaks (here on Quercus robur) where they live a semi-parasitic life.

2012-01-14 Lower Austria, district Gnserndorf - WWF nature reserve March-AuenGerman name: Riemenmistel, auf Stiel-EicheUnlike its distant cousin, the common mistletoe (Viscum album), they shed their leaves just as their hosts do; as a consequence they're much more difficult to spot than the former - but you can recognise them by denser, spherical growth in the crowns of oaks. And, of course, by their fruit lying on the ground in late autumn and winter.